Bob Alexander to remain Leesburg city manager

LEESBURG — City Manager Bob Alexander will have another year to work toward his vision of a new and improved city of Leesburg now that his contract has been renewed by the Leesburg City Council.

At the tail end of Tuesday’s regular council meeting, Leesburg Mayor Pro Tem Billy Breeden went off the agenda and made a motion to renew Alexander’s contract, along with a 3 percent cost of living increase. There was no discussion following a second of the motion, and the council voted unanimously in favor of Breeden’s motion.

“I’m very pleased they wanted to renew my contract,” the city manager said following the meeting. “There’s still plenty of things I’d like to work with the council to get accomplished this year.”

Specifically, Alexander is excited to see the expected completion of numerous infrastructure projects currently ongoing in the community, including a complete overhaul of the city’s water system, renovation of the downtown train depot, important road projects and other downtown redevelopment plans.

Additionally, Alexander is anxious to see work begin on the overhaul of the city’s sewer system after recently learning that Leesburg has qualified to receive a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

“I’m really looking forward to doing all of that,” said Alexander. “I’m looking forward to the next year.”

Alexander said that while he didn’t have a specific time frame in mind when he first took the job three years ago after leaving Lee County’s Planning department, he did have a vision. And the new contract, he said, will allow him to keep working toward it.

“Becoming the city manager was more based on being able to complete some of the visions that I had for Leesburg, things I had started as a planner in Lee County,” Alexander said. “I got more involved in the other parts of the infrastructure that needed to be upgraded and changed.”

Alexander’s arrival as city manager also signified a change in the city’s governmental structure, which is something else he’s interested in seeing to fruition.

“It takes a while to make a new form of government effective,” said Alexander. “It’s a process.”

Although he says he’s looking forward to the coming months, Alexander was also reflective, saying he was pleased with the progress the city has seen in the past three years thanks to the City Council’s willingness to work toward improvements.

“I think we’ve done quite a bit in the last few years,” he said. “We completed the north bypass (on U.S. Highway 19). I think that’s been a tremendous success for improving safety and reducing congestion in the downtown area. Being able to finish the new Public Works building, I think that’s been a real asset to the city. And working on upgrading the water and sewer systems. And changing to our new form of government. I’m very pleased with what we’ve accomplished.”

Members of the council said they are also pleased with the projects that have been accomplished recently, and they give a lot of credit to Alexander and the leadership he has provided.

“I think he’s done a great job,” said council member Debra Long. “I think he’s done great. He’s taken a lot off the council, and he really cares about Leesburg. He wants everything to be good, like we do.

“He’s trying to bring us up to where we want to be, where Leesburg is the kind of place where when our kids grow up they’ll want to be here. He’s done a great job.”